Two new initiatives of interest involving job rotation have reached the TrainingZONE newsdesk over the past few days.

The first is a scheme being launched in Barnsley by the Community Economic Regeneration Team, and aims to help employers fill the gaps left by promoting or re-training existing staff by employing an unemployed person with the skills and experience to take over the existing job role. Barnsley CERT aim to use the process to create jobs for many local unemployed people, while helping to further the careers of others who are already employed in the area. The idea has already been piloted successfully in Norway and Germany, as well as in the tourism industry in parts of southern England.

The second scheme has been developed out of a programme currently offered at Lancaster University's Management School, and offers managers studying for the Masters in Practising Management the chance to step into eachothers shoes for a short time. lead2lead gives managers the chance to work alongside others in different organisations, giving them the chance to watch other managers in action, before returning to their own workplace to act as host to another themselves. Managers are encouraged to think about their own management style and to share their experience with the manager they're partnered with. For more information about the programme, visit the lead2lead website at